What is Internet Art?

How do we make sense of art on the internet?

How do we describe what we see on the internet?

Is it “art?”

Ytmnd.com is a website of user created “memes,” and the “demoscene” is about testing the limits of what a computer can do. These are obscure examples. But what do they both have in common?

The YTMND & demoscene philosophy states that art in the digital age has became data, and constitutes three elements, isolated or together.

Internet art is about:

Sound - Music, vibrations in the air, noise, communication, a lecture, etc.

Image - A representation of an external form, visuals, animation, graphics, beauty, etc.

Text - Written or printed work, language, logic, meaning, purpose, knowledge, etc.

And Design - An artistic form expressed exclusively in a non-physical arrangement, plan, function, program, or thought. Made by humans, for humans.

Of course, the capitalist regime we live under only sees profit within the means of production, and it construes subjective value as a form of profit. The corporations see art as nothing more than “content,” and downplays the chaotic energy of data, or production without profit.

The “value” of sound, image, or text should not be synthesized together as “content,” as this agenda destroys the philosophy of art, and the need for human expression and intellect without constraints. True value provides nothing for capitalism. Data is free without value, and art on the internet is ever-expanding with the help of technology.

Art is nothing but data on the internet, and through the interpretation of the computer.

An artist can only focus on one area of sound, image, or text. The best art tends to have all three together, or two. I would rank text as the highest form of human art, superior to sound and image, as both require text to strengthen their meaning. Always sound or image alone requires text to create a lasting legacy. With text, we might not hear or see anything at first, but an advanced textual reading will eventually do this for us.

With Design, it’s like a running software, where the art is expressed only when the rules are understood and executed by humans, and for humans. The realm of board game design is a great example of this spiritual phenomenon.

The creation of an interface can also be understood through design, but it needs to be anthropocentric, and not between AI, a robot, or a machine, as design is exclusively expressed between humans, and not the autos-self. To put it bluntly, interactivity is between two or more humans, and not with a non-human in any equation. Design is the art of interactivity, and can only benefit human relationships.

Sound, image, and text can all be interconnected through the design of a visual programming language, or object-oriented programming. Programs like Max-MSP-Jitter, Pure Data, AudioMulch, Bidule, Reaktor, Bitwig’s “The Grid,” Blender, GameMaker Studio, Clickteam Fusion, and many other great programs, all contribute to a new paradigm of design. “Objects” are placed in the infinite layout, where they are “patched” together with one another. Together they make up a single container or an entirely new application that is executed to create the demoscene art. Objects can be words, bands, celebrities, mechanics, concepts, and so on. It’s how we connect them together in the “patcher.”

Object-oriented programming will soon replace blogging, music, art, and philosophy as a whole. Eclecticism is the practice of deriving ideas, styles, or tastes from a broad and diverse range of sources. All sources relate to one another and reflect upon the rhizomes that intersect with the sound, image, and text. Design makes this execution possible.

Be it writing a novel, composing electronic music, creating demoscene art or a new program, objects make up programming, and programming is the main motivation behind computer art. The old world is obsolete.

We should embrace this future transition into object-oriented ontology.

-pe

12-25-2023